My Frugality Manifesto

Coupon Artist is mid-twenties professional, with the debt that goes along with that title. She blogs at Art of the Coupon and is sharing her quest to pay off over $250,000 of consumer debt within the next five to six years. Art of the Coupon focuses on practical frugality, and living well for less.

Why should I live frugally? Why should I try to pay off my student loans early, instead of paying $661 a month for the next 30 years like Direct Loans wants me to? Why shouldn’t I buy new clothes and a fifty inch LCD tv and a vacation to Europe?

Because I want to be free.

As long as I have monthly obligations that I can’t meet without having a job, I am not free. I am a slave to Direct Loans, or to Mastercard, or to whomever else I owe money. True, I can choose my job (to some extent) and I can keep some (or even most) of my earnings. But I am still not free. Direct Loans, and the bank require me to pay them a certain amount of money each month, and paying that amount of money means that I must have a job.

Being in a position where I must have a job limits my freedom. I can’t go without income for a few months while I spend every second trying to get my blog, or my own business, off the ground so that they are producing income. I can’t go without income for a few years to stay home with my kids. I can’t quit a job I hate until I have found a new job. So, I am not free.

I want to be financially free so that I can spend my whole life pursuing goals and dreams I want to pursue. I want to have no debt, including no mortgage debt. I want to have enough money generating interest in a savings account to pay all of my required monthly expenses (property taxes and food) so that I never HAVE to go to a job to pay anyone. Some people call this state retirement- I call it freedom.

I am a long long way from that goal. But I’ll never forget that this is the end goal. So, frugality is not a sacrifice to me. It is a fight for my freedom. And I ask you, what wouldn’t you give up, in your fight to be free?

If you’re inspired by this frugality manifesto, check out some of Coupon Artist’s money saving tips including this Step By Step Guide to Grocery Savings or some of her other favorite posts.

I also want to be financially free so that I can spend my whole life pursuing goals and dreams. so i agree with EDEN that Freedom is one of my top reasons for wanting to be debt free. thanks for sharing.